13 March 2013

The upcoming summer transfer window promises to be one of the club's most important for years, and Reds manager Brendan Rodgers is confident that if he brings in the right players, Liverpool can compete for the title.

Speaking to The Mirror last night, Rodgers revealed his plans for the summer transfer window, and emphasised the need to bring in 'impact players' of similar quality to Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho. He explained:

“It is quality we are after now, not quantity. We see the impact of Coutinho, and Sturridge’s quality, in January. That’s what we’re looking for.

“If we bring in another three or four players of that quality, add that to what we have got, then we have got a strong squad that can compete"

“You look at what we have done this season, and the progression is there to see. In our first 14 games, we were only 12th in the table, but our last 14 we are third best - and that is what we expected"

As you can see, Rodgers is right: In the first 14 games, Liverpool's league results overall were poor:

Now, take a look at the last 15 league games and you'll see a drastic upswing:

Everything has massively improved:

* Close to 2 PPG, an increase of 0.79 PPG over the first 14 games.
* Massive increase in goals scored.
* Third overall in the form table.
* Top scorers in the league.
* Joint top clean sheets.

Rodgers insists that he's 'happy with the squad', but still wants to improve to achieve the numbers needed to maintain the challenge across four different competitions:

“Ideally, in terms of squad numbers, I’m looking that we have between 20 and 22 - two players in every position and your three goalkeepers. I am happy with the squad, [but we need] another three or four quality players"

Rodgers also hinted at several departures in the summer:

"Obviously, naturally, there might be people who aren’t playing who might want to go elsewhere"

So, if the club is going to bring in '3 or 4' players, what positions need to be filled? For me, I'd say:

92 comments:

Some competition for Pepe.A ball winning, ball playing centre half, needs to be good in the air and a good organiser.A strong, physical but technically sound defensive midfielder.A versatile attacker, we need flexible players who can operate anywhere in the front three. It will help if he's mainly right sided.

I might be tempted to miss out the keeper for a left back to keep Enrique on his toes, come to think about it.

well it was never going to be hard to better the first half of the season was it,also he or you forget to mention all the other players rodgers has signed,and finally he needs to learn to keep is mouth shut if he starts spouting of about challenging for the title he has to deliver,and the season is a season, sure every club in the league could use a period of the season to show when they were better

Other side of the question is who will go. Carragher is one. He needs replacing. That leaves us with only Coates Skrtel and Agger. Although he is still young, i think Coates has to go. He needs regular football and he won't get it with us. I hope Skrtel stays as I rate him. As said above, Kelly could become an understudy CB as well as backup for RB. For FB we are spoilt for quality. GJ, Enrique, Robinson, Kelly, Wisdom and if need be Downing. Midfield also looks good. except, i feel outside of Gerrard, no one in midfield really knows how to distribute from deep. Gerrard is our pass master. We could do with another of those. I would be sad to see any midfielders go are all young and decent for their age. In addition, Suso and Adjoran look like they deserve some first team action. I think for striking options, if we sell Carrol, we need to bring in quality backup. An experienced poacher would be my choice. David Villa would be perfect if a bit unrealisticI think on the whole though we need to keep this team together as they are starting to gel nicely.

A central defender who is good in the air, commanding and assertive, CDM who is strong and quick, a GK as good as Pepe at his best, and a LB with pace and good at defending, oh and another quality striker, not much to ask is it? ....is it?

I agree with all the positions you said Jaimie but i would like a top keeper to REALLY put pressure on Pepe. I'm not sure on this Iturra guy, he was playing in the second tier of Spanish football before Malaga. I think people get carried away by fancy foreign names that they havent seen play before. As for people saying more then one centreback, it depends what we are doing with our current ones. I would live us to sens out the following to Prem or Championship clubs on loan:

Coates, Suso, Ngoo, Adorjan, Ibe

Maybe even Wisdom if he isnt sniffing around the first team squad. We will have Kelly back.

the comment was on the post if he shouts is mouth of a bit like you he has to back it up simple he dose not have a keyboard to hide behind,the other things i mention were things rodgers forgot to mention eg look at my january signings and recent results forget about all the rubbish before that,on the subjecyt of signings i would sell allen ,borinni assaidi,and put the 12to 15million we got for them towards trying to sign eriksen the keepers i think we can leave as long as pepe wants to stay the defence is not as bad as everyone makes out especially with wisdom and kelly as back up,so for me its erikeson,maybe honda anditurra on free contracts,and that should leave plenty for a world class striker,

Agree with most of that, we'd need to get 5th to get Villa I reckon, he's getting older now so maybe won't get a move to the very top teams, so who knows, it nearly happened, according to Ballague before his leg break, here's hoping.

Not sure Robinson has what it takes to be strong enough cover if Enrique is injured, though GJ was pretty good on the left. I've a sneaky suspicion that Shelvey might go too

Feghoulli looks a good option, maybe Menez if Villa is out of the question. Kjaer or Williams perhaps for CB?

oh so it was jaimie who said we could push for second a few months back as well and as for the january signing did he not say the same thing about is summer signing eg allen world class 15 million he will be worth double that the welsh xazi,or was that jaimie as well and i suppose it was jaimie doing all the post match interviews when we were well and trully beaten by lets face it teams we should be beating ,saying how fantastic we were ,lol we have won 3 games in the league on the trot rodgers best run to listen to you you would think it was 33

having three central defenders is not ideal when he knows he has 2 blossoming versatile defenders in wisdom and kelly, who can both play in rb and cb and successfully.

-we need to sell borini who is too fragile and low confidence for the premier league. should be happy with £7m.-we need to sell coates as when kelly comes back he will still be on the bench. should be happy with £6m-need to sell carrol. hopefully west ham follow up the £18m agreement we have for him and we should be happy. -dont want to as he is experienced, knows the club well and can help new arrivals settle but skrtel wants to leave. should be happy with £12m.-send sterling, suso, shelvey, ngoo on a season long-loan for experience. they'll come back stronger and improved.

with the money from sells we would have £43M to add to brendan rodgers kitty of around £30M. thats £73M in total

-Stefan De Vrij is an Dutch international who is a leader/captain at 21 and is good on the ball. fit in well with BR system. £9M. this will be coates replacement.-Toby Alderwerield is exactly like Vertoghen. even better. class defender and will partner agger well. 23 wiv lots of experience. very good friends with Suarez also=Chemistry £10M-Mohamed Diame, every1 knows how good he is. exactly like y.toure, pace, strength, good takling and technical ability. PL experience and give us the power we lack. cover lucas. £3.5M-Keisuke Honda, world class player. real magician. decides games on his own. more game deciders like gerrard, suarez and honda will make us unstoppable. can play the no10 role, right wing, striker, midfield. pre-contract. FREE-Stefan Jovetic is amongst the best strikers in the world, most definately. with him suarez and sturridge, competition for striking roles will be exciting. hes also only 23. But CL football could be a big factor despite the fact he would probably love to come to anfield. £18M...Alex Pato will be the alternate if we cant get Stefan Jovetic.-Alex Pato is a world class striker but he currently plies his football in brazil again. meaning CL football is not an option. we should sign pato if we cant jovetic. similar price. £18M

this would be £40.5M on all good players. and this gives us two centre backs, one defensive midfielder, one attacking midfielder and striker. it still leaves around £32.5M in money which can go towards wages. wages will take about £10M of that money leaving £22.5M which we can use in january should we need reinforcements or simply save it for the next summer

re identifying myself your like a f2cking stalker if your not dropping my name in posts or like the one above doing it without naming me or posting me you would have f"ck all to say so as you said at least you have something to be thankful for

how did he not respect carragher sorry seem to have missed that,and re tom ince no chance imo why should the club buy back a player for a lot larger fee its like miechel owen he left thats his deccision let him stay gone ,if he had left on good ters like fowler to leeds fine i would welcome him back but he left like mcmanamn and owen so no way

having three central defenders is not ideal when he knows he has 2 blossoming versatile defenders in wisdom and kelly, who can both play in rb and cb and successfully. -we need to sell borini who is too fragile and low confidence for the premier league. should be happy with £7m.-we need to sell coates as when kelly comes back he will still be on the bench. should be happy with £6m-need to sell carrol. hopefully west ham follow up the £18m agreement we have for him and we should be happy. -dont want to as he is experienced, knows the club well and can help new arrivals settle but skrtel wants to leave. should be happy with £12m.-send sterling, suso, shelvey, ngoo on a season long-loan for experience. they'll come back stronger and improved.

with the money from sells we would have £43M to add to brendan rodgers kitty of around £30M. thats £73M in total

-Stefan De Vrij is an Dutch international who is a leader/captain at 21 and is good on the ball. fit in well with BR system. £9M. this will be coates replacement.-Toby Alderwerield is exactly like Vertoghen. even better. class defender and will partner agger well. 23 wiv lots of experience. very good friends with Suarez also=Chemistry £10M-Mohamed Diame, every1 knows how good he is. exactly like y.toure, pace, strength, good takling and technical ability. PL experience and give us the power we lack. cover lucas. £3.5M-Keisuke Honda, world class player. real magician. decides games on his own. more game deciders like gerrard, suarez and honda will make us unstoppable. can play the no10 role, right wing, striker, midfield. pre-contract. FREE-Stefan Jovetic is amongst the best strikers in the world, most definately. with him suarez and sturridge, competition for striking roles will be exciting. hes also only 23. But CL football could be a big factor despite the fact he would probably love to come to anfield. £18M...Alex Pato will be the alternate if we cant get Stefan Jovetic.-Alex Pato is a world class striker but he currently plies his football in brazil again. meaning CL football is not an option. we should sign pato if we cant jovetic. similar price. £18M

this would be £40.5M on all good players. and this gives us two centre backs, one defensive midfielder, one attacking midfielder and a striker all of quality. that still leaves £32.5M. £10M can go towards wages and the £22.5M can either be saved or used in january

There are many , many more posts that have NOTHING to do with you, than the ones which have. Just lately, you've been posting even more ridiculous and cretinous statements than usual, and I decided to debate those posts head on for a while to see if it would amount to anything, or if you would defend your stances with any kind of logic or with strong counterarguments.

Alas, all I and any body else received was the same old tired stuff .

Anybody who doubts my view can take a quick look at your post history via activity, and see whether I'm exaggerating when I say you can quite happily write 100 posts without a single one being anything but negative. They'll make their own mind up no doubt.

It's quite entertaining, watching the same thing repeat again and again

As for nothing to say, the facts don't support that theory even just in this thread...

Tell you what , you poor harassed, persecuted lamb, I'll ignore your infantile ramblings from now on when I see them. I guess that means I'll never post again since according to you, that's all I do, still, never mind.

I never resorted to mentioning your abysmal spelling, grammar, or posted anything with disguised swear words to make my points.

What I did do was routinely deconstructed almost every one of your so- called arguments, and exposed you for what you are, although each of us will decide exactly what that is for themselves...

no point getting villa. yes hes experienced and can get us goals but there are many other experienced players who are younger, more quick and will score a handful of goals. jovetic or pato would be a better option

Thing is, I've actually resorted to ignoring all the negative BS, it really is yawn worthy now. Not just that but it goes to show the intelligence of someone when they get called out on something and they have to swear instead of having a rational debate and backing up their nonsense with factual information.

Pato doesnt play Champions league. and thats only if we couldnt get jovetic. even without the funds in from players, £40.5M is a reasonable transfer kitty for BR, meaning he should be able to make those signings

owen and mcmanaman were first teamers that the fans loved and the club depended on. To compare them to Ince is probably your most idiotic comment ever. The former two left because they wanted a bigger club and more money. The also sold us short, mcmanaman left on a bosman and Madrid somehow made a 9 million profit on a player that was almost a reds legend.

Tom Ince was 19, had made 1 appearance in the league cup and had little to no chance of making more. He left because he wanted to be a footballer.. he wasnt playing at liverpool but currently he is a good footballer due to game time at blackpool. If you want to blame someone for him leaving how about blaming the person who let him leave? Kenny could have promised him games or sent him on loan and we wouldnt have had to buy him back.

anyway he has no contract in the summer.. so we would actually earn a profit.

You have a point, but 20 or so more goals will win us more matches overall, we have plenty of quick young players, Sturridge, Sterling , Coutinho ( mostly in his head) Villa has 2 or 3 more years of proven goalscoring to help Suarez while the others develop, then we can assess what we need whilst still winning matches

is Ince really that good? I watched him when he was still with us and thought he was ok but not sold on him for some reason. One of my mates is a Leeds fan and says when Blackpool played them he was the best player by far, is that the Championship or is he really that good? Then there's the fear he might too big for his boots too quick as we want him back, just saying.

Ince left cause his contract was up and he wasnt getting regular football so fair play to him. He mad the right choice for his career it is nothing like owen or macmanaman as they were in their prime when they left and getting first team football at the club, totally different scenario with ince as he neeeded to get competitive football and has shown he was good enough.

he left on bad terms and i do not think he will come back anyway if he comes back on a free fair enough,but at the end of the day if the player wants to leave there is not a lot a manager can do ,you cannot say to every player i will give you game time,its life the other two stabbed us in the back big style fowler could have done the same and did not thats why he will always be a true hero at anfield

I think rodgers still got a bad season, winning just 12 out of 29 games its really poor for a club like lfc, I was watching the table of last season at this stage and we re in the same place as last season on this stage, this shows no progression, we were supposed to be better, but we didnt move forward from that except scoring more goals and suarez is leading in goal scoring race, thats all we did better from last year.

we payed for his development but that what we received 250,000 for and have a 35% clasue if he is sold. If he is sold to utd (for instance we would get that but if he is good enough then we should not let the fact he left stand in the way. Whether he is good enough is another question and i agree there might be problems with his father etc but would nt know enough about it to comment

How does Rodgers' second half of league form compare with the second half of league form in 2010/11 season under KK II??? Not sure of the result but I do recall that period under KK II was pretty good.

i agree with jamies list of needs. hopefully kelly/coates can cover carra, while williams is brought in to replace MS, meaning only one cb needs purchasing. if coates goes on loan, we'll need a bosman cb or cheap young prospect to fill his space.

I think your wrong on Allen signing, he done well without even having pre season behind him(he has got tired not surprised also a shoulder injury) borini you can't really judge because he hasn't had a chance to show him talent, also assaidi is a good player every time he played he done well. He just been unlucky not getting into the team. Now be more positive.

Great summation. I don't know much about Diame, but I think Toure, though talented, makes too many mental errors. So if Diame is like him...no thanks. I really like the video I saw of Sofiane Feghouli...he's beast alright.

In order of preference I think it has to be a new defender, a defensive mid, and a striker. More importantly, we need to buy an organized leader type defender because we can see what Jamie brings to the backline with his noise, but this new signing needs that and the legs. Lucas goes down and we'll start losing games...need a DM asap.

I don't think we need a new keeper yet imo. I've said before, keepers are very hard to replace and with no keepers out there available at or above reina's capabilities I would rather us wait for the right keeper than rush and get a vitally important position wrong. We also need another striker who can challenge LS and DS and cover for injuries. Being realistic, if we can get big time players in these three positions then we'll have a great season. Any other positions bought is a bonus but I think these are crucial.

With links to Erikson who can play AMR or CM and other top name players, I wouldnt be mad if BR decided to make that kind of a coup signing. Would really show the league, and more importantly Suarez and the squad that we have ambition to win it all and are willing to back up our talk.

However, what's even more pivital is signing them early in August. They earlier we get them, the quicker they'll adapt to the rodger's philosophy in time for the new season.

Partly true in relation to ince,he wanted a big pay rise to stay and liverpool didn't want to pay that money,it's the knock on effect this can have when negotiating contracts with new and existing players. Liverpool need to get their house in order which they are slowly doing.

35 mill and a min 500k a month in wages is an expensive plan B. not sure Carroll would sit on he bench or is athletic enough to accommodate the current side. I feel best option is to offload and spend the money wisely.

I think if Skrtel and Agger stay then we would need two central defenders. Considering Carragher will retire. I don't think we need 3 due to Martin Kelly being a natural CD and were quite covered in RB.

Take into consideration he took over in June, he had to bring in new staff, first few months as a new manager is always tough. But saying Liverpool over years always get off to a bad start.

Rodger's say will never say he will l challenge for the title not now anyways. In his first conference he told everyone his main aim for now is to get back to competing in Europe. Challenging for the title will take a lot longer he said that to the fans. So I doubt he will say such a thing. Totally agree press conferences ain't Rodgers strong hold but I reckon over time he will know how to deal with media and when to keep his mouth closed.

Totally disagree with you. I don't know how many times I have said this. People discredited Downing and Henderson last season look at them now. Secondly, Allen was our best player at the beginning of the season. What do you base your information on that Allen's is not good enough. I think BR knows more than us so does his staff and the management of Liverpool.

Just because the top 4 was not interested in him (which is not true) Spurs were sniffing around does not mean a player is not good enough. Was any of the top 4 interested in Michu... erm no are they intrested now? Hell yeah.

If Liverpool are tochallenge for the title or top 4 next season I think they need tosign proven and experienced players and also look at promising youngtalent. They are lacking leadership, strengt and height, that is whyI think they should sign these players:Dejan Lovren 23CD/RB/LB: £ 7-8mOnly 23 years old and already an establisheddefender at Lion in France, first team international, can play acrossthe defensive line, very strong in the air and on the ball, passingacuracy 87,5%.Christian Benteke 22 ST: £ 11-13mStrongattacking player, very good in the air(something that Liverpool issorely lacking) and good on the ball too. Promissing young talentthat is only going to get better and already plays in the PL. 12goals and 4 assists in 24 apps for Aston Villa is a good return for asomeone of his age in a relegation zone team.Xabi Alonso 31CDM/CM: £15-18mThere is a good chance he will be leaving Realthis summer(if Mourinho leaves) and he expressed his desire to returnto PL(money and CL are not an isue=want's to come home to Liverpool).He would bring the much needed experience, leadership skills andstability to the midfield and the team, would also benefit thedevelopment of Henderson/Alen/Lucas. Complete midfield playmaker thatcan backup both Lucas and Gerrad and the only player I know of withthe same long pass accuray as our skipper. If any I would sing himfirst.Simon Mignolet 25 GK: £ 6-7mI think he can becomeas good as Reina at his best or even better. Very strong in the airand good long passing. If Reina leaves he would be my first choice ifnot loan him back to Sunderland.Liverpool doesn't need acomplete overhaul of the back line, one proven CD to replace Carragerwould be enough, there's enough talent that can step up(Kelly,Wisdom, Robinson, Flanagan). Coates needs first team experience inPL, loan him for 1 year or 2.Out: Skrtel £ 8-10m, Caroll £13-15M and Shelvey £ 5-6m(with a buy back clause)

Rodgers has confirmed minimum three players coming in. It will be interesting to see who comes in and who is leaving. But he must sort this out before end of season. pre season as a complete team is essential to start the new season with a bang.

A proper CB. (We can use a second CB from one of our kids - Kelly, Wisdom, Wilson, Coates)A RB who can cover for Glen or challenge himAn attacking mid to cover Downing or challenge himAn LB - a proper cover for EnriqueA GK who can replace Brad Jones

just one question for Jason Carr, did u actually play football/soccer? were u at any point a manager having to coach players, let alone (Professionals), do u have any idea what it takes to b a manager?

i always believe, u can only have any opinion/judgement of something u actually have experience of! even if u played soccer, it does not qualify u to a managerial position. first comes knowledge, then experience, then understanding. in turn, wisdom cums from how u apply all in all! so if u lack 1 of those a fore mentioned, it is obviously and most certainly clear, that ur/our opinion/judgement is based upon falls perception!

BR and his team have slowly improved over the course of the season. We seem to be getting there...I'm sure he will have the financial backing to sign some of his targets - But what I fear is that he will probably do something stupid and sell Downing and Henderson which doesn't 'improve' the squad at all.

Quite a few articles in the last couple of days say we are after 5 players.The five players that it's said that Rodgers wants are Feyenoord's Stefan De Vrij and Swansea captain Ashley Williams as potential new central defenders, Newcastle forward Hatem Ben Arfa, long term target Tom Ince of Blackpool and Paris Saint-Germain striker Kevin Gameiro.

I think we move Kelly to center back (worried about him being injury prone) with Wisdom as cover at right back (and potentially center back if two CB's are injured) and sell Coates/Skrtel and obviously Carra retiring we need at least one center back minimum. We need competition for Enrique at left back.

We should also look to invest in competition for Lucas (Iturra?) and a forward/Winger in Ince perhaps. Thats four players, Iturra is available on a free so that makes 3 purchases if we are interested in him.

I think people are writing Borini/Shelvey off far to early, Downing and Henderson have become decent squad players for us and deserve to start if they are playing well. Borini/Shelvey deserve at least the same amount of time if not more since he's been so unlucky with injury and he works his socks off for the team everytime.

Player sales should be able to cover that with Spearing (feel bad for the player, works really hard, absolutely loves the club but just a level underneath what we need) Carroll, Coates, Skrtel, Assaidi all leaving in the summer.

Players like Suso, Sterling etc. should be used as extra cover if not sent out on loan and players like Morgan, Flanagan, Robinson should be sent on season long loan and if they aren't good enough (most of them should be breaking through as squad players this season or next) then they should be sold.

A back up left back; a new, young, naturally left-footed left wing; an experienced, quick, naturally right-footed right wing; a physical holding midfielder; and two centre backs.

We currently have four alternating right backs over the last three seasons, and only left backs. Johnson and Wisdom are sufficient at right back, and I would consider loaning out Flanagan. At centre back Skrtel must go, Agger must stay, and Coates and Wilson should go out on loan. To compensate, and to save his career, Kelly must be moved back into the centre to replace Coates. With two new players coming in, one in Carragher's mould, being an experienced, intelligent, and strong leader. Jose Enrique needs a back up, while Robinson should be loaned out like Flanagan, Wilson and Coates.

Shelvey should be given a loan move, with Allen, Henderson, Lucas and Gerrard remaining, and an experienced and extremely physical holding midfielder introduced. I would sell Downing and bring in Ince, sell Carroll and bring in a right forward with strength, speed and goal scoring ability. Which would see our attack as Suarez and Sturridge in the centre, with Coutinho, Sterling, Ince and the plus-one in wide positions. With Suso out on loan with Shelvey, and Spearing sold. The rest are available for the U21s. Borini should be sold too, along with Assaidi, and youngsters like Sinclair and Ibe promoted.

If reports are to be believed then the manager will have £20m to spend so i can only see 1 new player coming in for around £15m till we sell a few. Now 2 obvious players spring to mind who could be sold and they both could bring in up to £25m in total. With £30m you could buy 2 more players from that list. The manager as stated that he as 3 names for every position he wants just incase he doesn't get his 1st choice target. For me 2 central defenders will be signed and a Ben Arfa/Feghouli type of player. Any other money that the manager gets from other sales will go towards a back up forward. Reading between the lines i think this covers the 3 or 4 quality signings the manager as stated. I seriously hope i'm wrong and the manager gets all his signings without having to sell 1st.

joe allen is ok but nowhere near worth 15M, which is why he recieves all the stick he does, and rightly so. allen doesnt contribute to our attack. with the way rodgers plays everyone has to be involved, including the keeper (look at reinas pass to coutinho, stunning) borini was given the chance, he has no excuse, he was a regular at the start of the season and he knows rodgers has faith in him. all he had to do was go out and perform. hes much to fragile and has no confidence(missed an open goal against hearts) he was the worst signing. assaidi is someone who hasnt been injured but everytime hes been called upon has produced magnificent performances. he looks a proper winger to me, beating a man on countless occasions and getting a ball into the box. rodgers is quite strange with his man-management, i dont know exactly what hes doing with assaidi but perhaps next year will be his year

We can add 2-3 players on Carra's wages when he retires at the end of the season.

It is not the transfer fee that bothers FSG. They have time and time again spoken about the wage bill. They don't mind splashing out on the transfer fee. They have spent loads since they bought the club!

The days of players being signed on wages of over 100 thousand pounds a week i.e Aquilani, Cole, Jovanovic, Maxi etc are over which is a very good thing as we can immediately figure out whether the player wants to come to Anfield for money or play for the crest and then we won't be saddled with mercenaries eating away at our wage bill.

We will have a busy summer, especially with defensive players. We need back up for Enrique, 2 new CB's and back up for Lucas. That is already 4 players. If we do not shape up our defence then we can kiss 4th good bey next season. Skrtel and Johnson should not be regulars in the first team the way they have been defending this season so it is vital to get the competition rolling in our back four!

I have no problem with FSG getting rid of players on big wages if they replace them. Last summer we never replaced all the 1st team players who left and that left us short in a number of positions. Some of our better young players were promoted to the 1st team to make up the numbers and senior players were being asked to play out of position.The jan transfer window was slightly better but we still didn't actually add numbers to the squad. Two 1st team players in and out of the club and some younger players allowed to leave on loan. Our best starting 11 may be better now but over a season i can't see this squad being able to compete with those above us in the table. How much will it cost to replace Carra? That comes out the transfer kitty straight away. Two new central defenders are a priority for me. So is a player who can play anywhere along the front 3. A 4th forward at the club would be nice but not urgent and neither is a new left back.

I largely agree with JK's checklist, but I'd like 2 centre halves and a 'keeper to challenge Reina (if one who is good enough can be found for a decent price and is willing to challenge rather than just replace Reina).

I thought of Shawcross because e could be a real defensive rock but still young enough to consider his game and tweak his distribution. He also is a more natural leader than Skrtel which is never a bad thing

I never said Ince was world class. I said he could be a good alternative. If we do not have a bottomless chest of money to spend then spending 5 million which then equates to 3 and a half on him isn't too bad as he is able to play the system we have and would be able to provide competition for the wingers. One thing that I realised earlier though is that really shouldn't need to as we have Assaidi who has looked promising but never gets a game.